To bus or not to bus

I'm not going to admit to have studied the issue of Wake County school board elections closely enough to have a solid opinion. (My daughters are aged 10 months and almost 3; I didn't think I'd HAVE to worry about this quite yet.)

I lean to the right politically and I acknowledge that the diversity policy has seemingly had a positive impact on the quality of Wake's overall education over the years. But at the same time, I absolutely *love* the thought of neighborhood schools.

As it stands now, my daughters would go to an elementary school near our home (close to downtown), middle school near Leesville Road (about as far from downtown as you can while still being technically in Raleigh), and then high school at most likely Broughton. While two out of three ain't bad, I'm not that excited about the girls not sticking with most of the same classmates over the years or not even going to school with many neighbors. (I grew up in a town where everyone went to the same schools, so this idea that you may not go to school with your best friend across the street seems very odd.)

Apparently the idea of neighborhood schools is picking up steam. Even some parents in lower-income neighborhoods are excited by the possibilities of not having to drive 35 minutes one way to be involved with their kids' school lives.

It's probably no surprise that this has become a black and white issue -- or rather a red and blue one. GOP groups support the neighborhood school idea; Democrats vow to keep the status quo.

(Note: When I says it's become a "black and white" issue, I'm referring to the division of the sides, not race.)

"The opportunity is huge, and I think we have a good chance of winning this thing," Allison Backhouse, an Apex parent and a leader of the Wake Schools Community Alliance, a group critical of student assignment policies, told the N&O.

Of course ...

"The people moved here because of the quality of the school system," said Jennifer Lanane, president of the Wake County chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators.

Naturally, The Independent weighs in:

National experts sing praises of the Wake County school system, calling it—as Syracuse University's Gerald Grant did in a recent book—"a beacon of hope" in the rubble of America's failing urban districts.

With good schools as a key selling point, Wake is among the nation's fastest-growing counties, but that means the school system is under constant pressure to keep up with the growth—and to reassign students as new schools come on line. Locally, these reassignments are greeted with a chorus of complaints. ...

The critical reason why Wake's schools succeed where other urban districts don't, experts say, is the school board's longstanding commitment to maintaining balanced student populations (diversity) so that there are no schools with all rich— or all poor—kids in them.

It's a tough, but vital, job in a county with 159 schools and 140,000 students—up from 126 schools and 109,000 students six years ago—where most neighborhoods are not economically diverse. Students are assigned to a school near their homes, not necessarily the nearest one.

A steady increase in the number of economically disadvantaged students, to almost 30 percent of all students, makes it tougher still, and has coincided with a slight drop in graduation rates.

Contrast, as Grant did, the prosperity of inside-the-Beltline Raleigh with almost every other American city you can name, where parents who can afford to do so flee from the city's central neighborhoods so their children can attend good suburban schools. American cities are hurting. Raleigh is flourishing—and Wake County with it.

Sigh. I still have no idea where I stand. A little help, please?

Raleigh: An accurate gauge of U2 popularity?

First, let me state that I absolutely LOVE U2. I even once made a comment (probably ca. 1992) that those guys could [defecate] on stage and I'd still pay a lot of money to see it, and it would be awesome.

Then a little album called Pop came out, and, well, I didn't quite have the same affection anymore; the boys from Dublin and I had a brief hiatus.

Still, around 1997 or so, the Pop Mart Tour was slated to come through Raleigh. I bought tickets for the Carter-Finley show; apparently, I was one of the few who did so. The show was canceled, just days before U2 were slated to come through the City of Oaks. U2 blamed it on its equipment getting rained on in New York, but most of us here had a feeling it was because not that many tickets had been sold. (I was working at Blockbuster Music in CV at the time, which had a Ticketmaster hub, and I remember the ticket sales to be lackluster, to say the least.)

Fast forward a dozen years or so. U2 has managed to win me and others back. They did so with All That You Can't Leave Behind and then didn't hurt their chances with a pretty good How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The latest, No Line On the Horizon is meh -- no matter what Rolling Stone tells you. I've given it shot after shot, hoping it would grow on me. It has its moments; but here we are just days away from another show at Carter-Finley, and I'm just not feeling the new album. No worries, though, I'm sure it will be a fantastic show, one that I will tell me kids about.

But here's the funny thing. While some 55,000 tickets have apparently been sold, a look at U2's website reveals that the Raleigh show may be the only one that hasn't sold out. My Irish friend Paul deems this embarrassing. He may be right, but I tend to think it's that us Raleigh folk are little more circumspect with our moolah. And if this is a sign that U2 isn't on their A-game, then maybe the next album will be fantastic. And everyone can thank Raleigh for that.

(OK, maybe not.)

We are so smart! We are so smart! S-M-R-T -- I mean ...

And speaking of colleges ...

Journalist and beast of a basketball player Jeff Drew wrote for the TBJ that if "you measure a community’s worth in degrees, then the Triangle remains a pretty hot place to be, according to educational-attainment data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of its American Community Survey.

A Triangle Business Journal analysis of the data finds that among 114 Combined Statistical Areas across the nation, the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA boasts the third highest percentage of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree.

With 40 percent of its population holding at least one degree from a four-year institution of higher learning, the Triangle ranks behind only No. 1 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia at 42 percent and No. 2 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland at 41 percent. ...

The Triangle easily has the most four-year college graduates in the state. Asheville ranks second at 28.4 percent, followed by the Charlotte area at 27.6 percent. the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point Triad at 24 percent and the Lumberton-Laurinburg area in the southeastern part of the state, which ranked dead last of the 114 CSAs nationally at 13 percent.

Well done, people!

A college hoops Hall in Raleigh? Good idea. But let's get our own house in order first

I completely agree with GoGo's idea that Raleigh should push HARD to be the home of a College Basketball Hall of Fame. One has to figure that the Triangle has a legitimate shot if ever a building was built, and Raleigh's as good a spot as any.

Apparently, Atlanta will get the College Football Hall, which will move from South Bend, Ind. Charlotte is building the NASCAR Hall as we type this. As for a college hoops hall?

"Apparently no such thing exists," says GoGoRaleigh, "but if someone had the gumption to put it together, I can think of no finer place than here in the Triangle. In the modern era, the Triangle has fielded a team in the Final Four in 21 of the last 29 years, and produced 3 of the last 8 national champions"

Exactly.

The one problem I have is the current N.C. Sports Hall. It is tucked into a corner of the N.C. Museum of History. While it is a terrific place to read up on the jewels of N.C. sports from the days of yore, it has a feel like it has not been updated in about 15 years or so. Last time I went, I saw nothing about hockey/Carolina Hurricanes.

My point is, if Raleigh is going to push for a mythical national college basketball hall of honor, perhaps we should get our state's sports hall as pristine and perfect as possible beforehand.

A couple of (sorta) local sports shout outs

Forgive me for taking a moment or two to shill for some things about which I want to spread the word. One is a new, Atlantic Coast Conference-related sports blog (created and managed by two NCSU grads -- and aquaintances) and the other is a sports-related missions organization that is co-run by a Raleigh guy.

Instead of Texting
The slogan of this blog is "Blogging About the ACC to Cut Our Phone Bills." It's a new site, created by Jimmy Ryals and Jeremy Ashton, aimed at doing just that: blogging about ACC sports.

How'd it get that name, you ask?

It’s the brainchild of Jimmy’s girlfriend. She overheard one end of a phone call where Jeremy and Jimmy discussed the idea of co-writing an ACC sports blog. “Great. Maybe you guys can do that instead of texting each other about games all the time.”

We’ll see.

Ubuntu Sports

My buddy and Thursday morning Bible study group member Kevin was sporting a shirt the other day with the word "Ubuntu" across the front. According to Kevin, "ubuntu" is an African expression for "togetherness."

The guys at Ubuntu Sports -- Casey Prince and Michael Jenkins (Prince was born and raised in Raleigh) -- hope to use sports, specifically soccer, as a missions tool to kids in and around Cape Town, South Africa. (Great timing; the World Cup will be hosted in S.A. next year.) Others on the Ubuntu board are Curtis Clark, an exec with IBM; Gary Hall, Barton College A.D.; and others that are, presumably, located in the Triangle.

According to the site, Ubuntu will accomplish the vision by: "hiring and training coaches to mentor boys in township communities as they are coaching them in soccer; developing a residential academy to develop spiritually, academically, and athletically the most talented players from the teams; andfostering opportunities for the boys to seek higher education in the USA or a career in professional soccer.'

Ubuntu has a blog; and you can help them out with this great cause here.

Raleigh: The Forgotten Capital

According to this Yahoo story, Raleigh is apparently the hardest state capital in the Union to remember, "beating out" California's and Alaska's.

Any thoughts on why this is? I find it hard to believe that folks have a harder time remembering Raleigh than, say, Columbia, Annapolis or Frankfort. One thought -- from looking at the list (below), is that a majority of the states listed are also many of the same ones to which people are moving.

Say you're living in Michigan and you're thinking of moving to the southeast. It's very likely the first place you'll look is the largest cities or the capitals. Even though most schoolchildren are supposed to memorize the capitals, how many do you actually remember? As someone who grew up in N.C., I don't think I could correctly tell you the capitals of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, New Hampshire, Vermont, etc. Why would someone from those areas know the difference between Charlotte and Raleigh, or Raleigh and Columbia?

"Of course," says Yahoo, "this whole memorization would have gone a lot easier if founding fathers and civic planners made sure the capitals remained the most populous city (27 are not) or at least contained the state name (only Indianapolis and Oklahoma City extend that courtesy)."

At the same time, few people are moving to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, etc., so maybe fewer people are searching the 'net for info about them? Just a guess.

Top 10 Hardest State Capitals to Remember
1. North Carolina
2. California
3. Alaska
4. Maryland
5. Georgia
6. Florida
7. Montana
8. New Mexico
9. New York
10. Washington

American Airlines cutting some service at RDU

Though the exact destinations have not been confirmed, it is true that American Airlines will be cutting some service at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. In all, three destinations will be eliminated, according to the Charlotte Observer.

The cutbacks here will leave American with 44 departures out of RDU to eight cities. Three destinations were eliminated. ...

American also is shrinking its operations in St. Louis.

American hasn't yet determined the number of employees that will be affected by the flight reductions in those two cities, Bloomberg News reported.

National Wolfpack Service Day coming up in October

N.C. State football coach Tom O'Brien likes to talk about the "Wolfpack Nation." Well, the citizen of said nation will have the opportunity to get out and do some good work on National Wolfpack Service Day, October 24.

"Check with the alumni network leader in your area about plans for National Wolfpack Service Day. If there’s not a project in the works, get started! Pick a cause and organize an alumni group to work together and show their Wolfpack pride on Oct. 24," says the Alumni Association.

If you need inspiration, here's some samples of last year's projects:

The Atlanta Alumni Network last year participated in Bowl for Kids’ Sake, the second largest annual fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta. In 2007, it volunteered with a Habitat for Humanity project.

The Baltimore Alumni Network helped restore the Jones Falls Watershed by planting trees and/or removing invasive plants in 2008. In 2007, it teamed up with the area’s Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) Alumni Club to volunteer at Our Daily Bread Employment Center and Soup Kitchen.

The Beaufort Alumni Network organized “Support our Troops” letter-writing events in 2007 and 2008 and delivered notes / photos to our men and women at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...

The Guilford Alumni Network collected food for Urban Ministry at its fall game-viewing parties in 2007 and 2008. ...

The Minneapolis Alumni Network volunteered in 2008 with The Goodwill Project, assisting with merchandising in one of the 13 metro-wide Goodwill stores. ...

The New York Tri-State Alumni Network delivered meals to the elderly through City Meals on Wheels in 2008, and volunteered with “Street Project” in 2007 to revitalize a small Bronx park.

The Wake County Alumni Network cleaned, unpacked, sorted and arranged building materials at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in 2007 and 2008.

Nice work, Wolfpack!

Hallelujah!

I'm not exactly scooping anybody here (especially since the good folks at NewRaleigh wrote about this a day or so ago), but it looks like Raleigh's Trader Joe's is set to open October 30.

I can't be happier. Now our family's shopping will take place in a one-block area that includes Trader Joe's and Costco. Nice.

If you're not familiar with Trader Joe's, be sure to give it a shot. Cheap (re: inexpensive) wines and cheeses. Fantastic breads. Great frozen foods. And quirky employees.

As NR said, "... start saving your pennies- 2 buck chuck and every other foodie bargain is less than 2 months away."

Hallelujah, indeed.

RailHawks, other USL teams threaten to form own league

It still may be a stretch, but there are definite rumblings about the Carolina RailHawks and several other United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division teams breaking away from the USL and forming their own league. In addition, this new league *could* partner in some way with Major League Soccer (MLS), which could result in what many international soccer fans would love to see (and are used to seeing) -- a relegation and promotion league. In that case, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that markets like Carolina *could* be promoted to MLS while underachieving MLS teams (such as New York Red Bulls) could be relegated for USL.

The USL, founded in 1986, was owned by Nike until last week when it was sold to Atlanta-based company Nu Rock Soccer Holdings, a move which foiled a bid by a consortium of leading clubs to purchase the league [according to Reuters Canada]. ...

A statement from the Team Owners Association, issued with the support of eight current and future franchises stated it was committed to "achieving a team-owner controlled league" and said the group would "pursue all avenues" to do so.

Selby Wellman, owner of the Carolina Railhawks and spokesman for the teams, said a breakaway league was on the agenda.

"It is certainly one of the options," he told Reuters in an interview. "We are clearly at odds with USL, we have been at odds with them for two years over the fact that we are the only league in the world that doesn't have (team) owners controlling it." ...

Wellman said the teams, which also includes existing USL franchises in Montreal and Vancouver in Canada and planned franchises in Atlanta, Tampa Bay and St. Louis, would be open to a compromise with the league but he was not optimistic.

"I have to be honest and say that my expectations of it are quite low -- if you just bought a league for that money and put it in Nike's pockets you are probably unwilling to turn it over to other people.

"We have been at this for two years. We are not willing to start all over again and drag it out for another year or so. Quite frankly we are tired." ...

Although USL teams receive less exposure and have smaller crowds than the 15-team MLS, they are present in markets without top flight teams and Wellman said he hoped MLS would be willing to work together with any new structure.

"If the ultimate goal is to raise the level of pro soccer in North America then there has to be ways that MLS and our group can work together and make that happen," Wellman said.

Wellman also talked locally with NBC 17.

"The rules, the FIFA rules, are that the league should be owner-controlled. So we know we're right," said Wellman. "But when you know you're right and you want to stick to it but you can't get there, it gets pretty frustrating."

Get to know your streets: Athletic greatness

I was glancing at SpotCrime's local crime alert the other day, and noticed that there is a Joe Louis Avenue in Raleigh. This got me thinking about whether there are other streets in the Capital City named for famous athletes, whether with local or national ties.

The first reaction would be to check around N.C. State to see of any streets named for athletes (not unlike "Peyton Manning Pass" around Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.). As far as I can tell, nada. There is close by, however, a street probably named for Gov. O. Max Gardner, who almost single-handedly saved North Carolina during the Great Depression. It's well known that Gardner was the captain of State's football team, then attended Carolina but wouldn't suit up against State. But, then again, Gardner's street-naming honor is more for his political accomplishments than his athletic o nes.

Over in Cary is a Jim Valvano Drive, apparently near Cary High School.

There may be opportunities for more athlete street names in the future. It would not shock me to see a "Kay Yow Avenue" on State's campus at some point. Same could go for Philip Rivers. Over near Broughton could be a street named for Pete Maravich -- of course, that would assume that there is any land left to be turned into a street. Other down-the-road possibilities: Ron Francis Boulevard? Rod Brind'Amour Lane? Josh Hamilton Way near Athens Drive (assuming he continues on the up-and-up).

Any others that I've missed? Any others that should be named for athletes?

(Images from Wikipedia)

Charlie Daniels Band, Joan Jett ... and the N.C. Symphony?

OK, so those three maybe aren't performing together, but they all will have played Moore Square by the time the end of the year rolls around.

CDB and Joan Jett were among those that performed at Raleigh Downtown Live this summer, and now it appears the symphony will be doing a free show on September 12. in the same location, which is very cool.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will include a performance by the string band The Red Clay Ramblers, Mayor Charles Meeker announced Monday.

Spectators should bring lawn chairs and blankets. Picnic baskets are also allowed.

Bob Anderson, associate principal bass for the symphony, said the concert is an opportunity for the musicians to show their gratitude for the community's support. The city of Raleigh contributes $200,000 annually to the N.C. Symphony, which begins its 2009-2010 season Sept. 25.